The Lord Reigns!

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.

Psalm 97:1

Sometimes it’s very easy to forget just how much we have to be thankful for. I have a good job, a nice home, a loving and beautiful fiancee, a generous and caring family, good health, a nice car, stunning surroundings and much more beside. Yet sometimes I can get down and think that my life is not as wonderful as I would like it to be. As I say that now, shortly after listing just some of the things I have to be glad about, it seems absurd. I’m sure that you’re the same, though. If you have a busy day at work, or receive some bad news, or the heating packs up in the middle of the winter, it is easy to feel down and depressed, and to lose sight of all the wonderful things that you do have.

In our current Isaiah passage, the prophet says that the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim that God reigns, are beautiful. He makes no doubt that the message that God is sovereign over all is something to be joyous about. The psalmist agrees. He says that the earth should be glad because the Lord reigns. We are not drifting about left to our own devices as some would have you believe, but we are under the watchful and lo loving rule of God the Father.

As we approach Christmas, we have plenty of opportunities to be glad. We can be happy that we have family and friends that bestow love on us. We can be happy with the gifts that we receive. Most of all, though, we can be happy that in Jesus we have the ultimate gift – real, firm evidence that the Lord God loves us, and the promise of eternal life as a consequence of Jesus’ death and resurrection.